Kensington Street takes home the 2016 Good Design Award

The recently transformed lifestyle precinct, Kensington Street in Chippendale, took home the ‘Urban Design and Public Spaces’ award, and the ‘Architectural Design’ award at the 2016 Good Design Awards. The award-winning design team comprises Sydney-based architecture practice Tonkin Zulaikha Greer and Paul Davies & Associates for architecture and Turf Design Studio & Jeppe Aagaard Andersen for public domain & landscape architecture.

Bordering the eastern edge of what previously served as a Carlton United Brewery, the previously abandoned street is now a lifestyle and recreation destination, housing some of the more popular dining destinations in the city. Heritage warehouses and fine-grain terraces have been tastefully converted into new creative spaces and contemporary art galleries.

Turf Design Studio’s Director Mike Horne says “Revitalising one of Sydney’s oldest streets into a vibrant new public place that contributes to the evolving street typology of the city has certainly been a career highlight for myself and my team

“Kensington Street is a shared pedestrian zone, which means it provides a very human-scale place to meet, interact and stay. It was important to reintroduce a landscaped environment to enliven the streetscape and pedestrian laneway and make it inviting for the public”.

An aisle of established trees defines the central carriageway of the street, separating vehicle noise movements from active building areas. Dining spaces are marked with a subtle change in the brick pattern and seating has been placed rhythmically between plantings.

“We kept the materials palette as simple as possible, with the hero bespoke Bowral Blue Brick paying homage to its local architectural heritage. The pattern of the brick changes across the public domain to add visual interest and delineate between building edges, the City of Sydney boundary and through-site links” says Mike Horne.